Starting roof plate



June 23, 1964 P. TIERNAN 3,137,970

STARTING ROOF PLATE Filed May 25, 1960 nom/ggg 5y United States Patent() 3,137,970 STARTING ROOF PLATE Lawrence P. Tieruan, 1815 Evelyn St., Perry, Iowa Filed May 23, 1960, ser. N0. 30,999 2 Claims. (Cl. 50-66) This invention relates to roofs and more particularly to a starting roof strip or trim plate including the corners of the roof to be serviced.

The weak point of most roofs is at their lower edge and corner areas. One reason for this is that water tends to soak into the wooden shingle support structure at the roof edge portion thereby damaging and causing the rotting of the wood. In an attempt to partially overcome this shortcoming of roofs many builders use two layers of shingles at the roof edge areas. Also some effort has been made to place a metal trim over the side edge areas of the roof such as is described in my issued Patent No. 2,855,872. The problem, however, is not only at the roof edge and corners of the shingle supporting base, but with these lower arranged shingles themselves. Even when a metal starting strip is used, the space between the metal starting strip and the under sides of the shingles are not properly sealed together nor properly ventilated for drying purposes. Obviously, therefore, the under sides of the lower shingles remain damp after a rain and furthermore there is always a possibility of some water passing between the shingles and starting strip to a point beyond and above the inner edge of the starting strip.

Therefore, one of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a successful starting strip for the lower edge areas and corners of a roof that provides adequate contact with the under sides of the shingles.

A further object of this invention is to provide a roof starting strip that permits a certain amount of air circulation between the metal starting strip and the shingles of a roof.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a starting strip that has additional insulation characteristics.

Still further objects of my invention are to provide a starting strip for roofs that is strong, economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my starting strip prior to the installation of the shingles;

FIG. 2 is a section of a roof showing my device installed between the roof base and shingles; and

FIG. 3 is a close sectional view of the device taken on line 3 3 of FIG. 1 and illustrates the ridge contact of my strip with the shingles.

In these drawings I have used the numeral to generally designate my starting strip. The outer edge of the strip may be bent and formed into a suitable style. In most instances starting strips have a downwardly extending outer marginal portion 11 as shown in FIG. 1. In the drawings Ishow my strip extending rst outwardly beyond the plane of the roof base 12, then inwardly, then downwardly, and then downwardly and outwardly. In installing, the starting strip is placed in position and then nailed or suitably secured along the lower edge and corners of the roof and with the downwardly extending flange portion 11 of the starting strip closely adjacent the outer edge of the roof as shown in FIG. 1. As the starting strip has been secured the shingles 16 are installed in the usual manner and shown in FIG. 2,

The structure and installation of starting strips thus far described is substantially standard and I will now describe my improvement thereon in detail. In that part of the starting strip that rests on top of the roof base, I form a plurality of spaced apart upwardly extending ridges 17. These raised ridges 17 extend longitudinally of the roof edge and transversely of the longitudinal axes of the shingles as shown in FIG. 2. By this construction the under sides of the shingles will only engage the tops of the ridges 17 as shown in FIG. 3. Therefore, each ridge 17 will act as a line seal on the under side of the shingles and obviously this point of seal will be elevated above the main width of the starting strip. Not only is an elective seal realized, but due to the elevation of the seal, water would be required to run up and over a ridge to pass beyond the ridge. A still further advantage of a plurality of spaced apart ridges is that at each side of each ridge is an air space 19 as shown in FIG. 3. These air spaces 19 permit the rapid drying of the shingles. A still further advantage of my spaced apart ridges 17 is that they greatly strengthen the ridge and, therefore, makes for a more rigid structure. Inasmuch as the ridges 17 are formed and bent in the strip there will also be an air space 20 below each ridge and the roof base.

Although I have referred to my invention as particularly adapted for roof starting strips and corners, obviously, it may be used to advantage for other purposes such as foundation plates and like.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my Starting Roof Plate without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modilied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination, a roof base having an outer horizontal edge, a rigid sheet metal construction strip secured to the outer surface of said roof base adjacent said outer horizontal edge, a plurality of spaced apart upwardly extending ridges formed in and extending longitudinally of said strip and parallel to said outer horizontal edge, and at least one shingle member secured to the outer surface of said construction strip whereby the lower surface of said shingle member engages said plurality of ridges of said construction strip.

2. In combination, a roof base having an outer horizontal edge, a rigid sheet metal construction strip secured to the outer surface of said roof base in overlapping relation to said outer horizontal edge, a plurality of spaced apart upwardly extending ridges formed in and extending longitudinally of said construction strip and parallel to said outer horizontal edge, the width of said ridges being substantially less than the space between successive ridges, and at least one rigid shingle member secured to the outer surface of said construction strip whereby the lower surface of said shingle member engages said plurality of ridges of said construction strip thereby providing an air space between said lower surface of said shingle member and said space between successive ridges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Carroll Feb. 12, Neel July 25, Petersen Aug. 29, Wilson Feb. 13, Dickson Apr. 2, Young Jan. 23, Norrid May 13, Tiernan Oct. 14,

Berg Mar. 15, 

1. IN COMBINATION, A ROOF BASE HAVING AN OUTER HORIZONTAL EDGE, A RIGID SHEET METAL CONSTRUCTION STRIP SECURED TO THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID ROOF BASE ADJACENT SAID OUTER HORIZONTAL EDGE, A PLURALITY OF SPACED APART UPWARDLY EXTENDING RIDGES FORMED IN AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID STRIP AND PARALLEL TO SAID OUTER HORIZONTAL EDGE, AND AT LEAST ONE SHINGLE MEMBER SECURED TO THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID CONSTRUCTION STRIP WHEREBY THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID SHINGLE MEMBER ENGAGES SAID PLURALITY OF RIDGES OF SAID CONSTRUCTION STRIP. 